1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the presentation of media content. More particularly, the present invention relates to enhancement of media content by a presentation system configured to receive the media content.
2. Background Art
The increased sophistication of consumer electronics devices has rendered the consumption of media content a more interactive process than ever before. Whereas media consumers, such as television (TV) viewers, were once passive recipients of media content entirely determined by relatively few broadcasters, and available for viewing only on a fixed schedule, media consumers now wield considerable control over the substance and timing of what they choose to view. For example, the wide distribution of digital video recorders (DVRs) has largely decoupled television programming content from the fixed schedules of the past, enabling consumers to store programming received by their cable tuners or set-top boxes, for viewing and repeated viewing according to personal scheduling preferences.
Although liberating for the typical consumer, DVRs and other media content storage devices have created challenges for media content providers and the advertisers on whom many of those providers rely for sponsorship of their programming. One challenge flows from the fact that media content providers are now forced to compete for viewer interest in each of their products over the entire viewing day.
Historically, media content provider “A” competed with media content providers “B” and “C” in discrete time slots, in which market research data could suggest that the majority of viewers would be of a certain age or prefer a certain format of content, such as family oriented content between 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., for example. As a result, media content providers could focus on providing family content in that time slot that was more appealing than that offered by competitors, without substantial concern about competition from other genres of media content during that viewing period, or their own content produced for viewing at other times. Now, however, each item of media content offered by a media content provider must compete with every other item offered by that media content provider, as well as every item of content offered by every other media content provider, across every hour of the viewing day.
In the face of such increased competition for viewer attention, information about consumer viewing habits becomes especially critical for the competitive success of both media content providers and their advertisers. However, another challenge resulting from greater consumer control over viewing, is that market research data is more difficult to gather. For example, because media content consumption is substantially decoupled from media content delivery, it is now more difficult to determine what programming is being viewed, at what hour it is being viewed, how many times it is being viewed, and by whom it is being viewed. Consequently, effective advertising placement may become more difficult and costly to achieve for potential media content sponsors, perhaps discouraging their support for otherwise praiseworthy or socially beneficial programming.
One recent approach to stimulating consumer interest in a particular brand of media content, such as a serialized TV drama for example, is the distribution of consumer software applications for producing a small viewing window on a consumer's television screen that displays graphics and perhaps text promoting the particular brand. Such applications, sometimes called “widgets,” are typically specific to a particular television series or broadcast network. Widgets may be designed to be customizable by the consumer. For example, the consumer may be able to control language, font, display size, and even some of the substance of the content displayed by the widget, which typically executes independently of content concurrently displayed on the TV or other presentation system.
Because they are designed to attract and engage a viewer's attention, however, widgets provided to promote a particular media content, while perhaps encouraging a consumer to view the media content, may in fact distract the viewer from being attentive to the media content while it is being presented. In addition, widgets associated with particular media content may be used by a consumer as an entertaining diversion from advertisements promoting the products or services of sponsors of that programming.
Accordingly, there is a need to overcome the drawbacks and deficiencies in the art by providing a solution for encouraging viewer interest in broadcast media content that enhances a consumer viewing experience while avoiding distraction from the broadcast media content or its associated advertising.